Teacher strike: Good lesson in civil disobedience

Today, instead of dressing my kids in school uniform and taking pictures of them smiling nervously for their first day of school, we dressed in red and joined in the effort to support our teachers who support our children all year long.

Parents, imagine watching your kiddo take his or her first steps. Their joy, your excitement, their topple, your continued encouragement, and finally their resolve to get back up and try again.

Now multiply those feelings times 25. Once for each of the students sitting in a classroom.

Our teachers invest constantly in our children, guiding them as they learn to read, solve multiple-step equations, learn better ways of solving an argument with a fellow classmate.

It’s parenting times 25, plus all of the additional hours of preparation, grading, assessing and training.

This extraordinary passion for advancing the younger generation deserves respectable pay.

Teachers, get up, show up and stand up for our kids. And it’s time our community and school board do the same in terms of fair wages.

Tacoma, see you on the line!